


Due To Technicalities

by ipretendtobesane



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious Ian Gallagher, mickey is soft and WHIPPED bro so its like canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 08:20:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18139730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipretendtobesane/pseuds/ipretendtobesane
Summary: "You've had sex how many times? Yeah that's not technically a friendship"or,the one where ian doesn't realize he's been dating mickey for half a year and it takes a lunchtime conversation with lip for him to figure it out.





	Due To Technicalities

**Author's Note:**

> based on
> 
>   
>  <https://jortsboy.tumblr.com/post/172416488874/reddie>   
> 
> 
> also i wrote this at 1am, it's unbeta'd, and i barely managed to type a single sentence without using autocorrect so if it's rough im so sorry oops!
> 
> anyway hope u like it!! kudos n (nice) comments are always appreciated xoxo

Ian loved his brother. He really did. Him and Lip have always had a very close relationship and he’s never had trouble telling him about, really, anything. When Lip moved to college, him and Ian decided to set up monthly lunches to catch up and spend some time together away from the rest of the Gallaghers.

For the first time in his life, Ian is regretting all of that.

He was telling- well, _complaining_ , to Lip about this guy he’s friends with when Lip decided to dissect their whole relationship.

As if it’s any of his damn business.

“So… you two kiss?” He asks while stirring his coffee with one of those little coffee sticks, eyebrows drawn together in confusion as if he’s trying to figure out the puzzle before Ian provides him with all of the details.

“Like- yeah. I guess? But only sometimes? It’s not really a big deal and normally happens when we’re really tired or when we’ve, like, fucked.” Ian answers sheepishly. Sure, him and Lip have no semblance of boundaries between them but that doesn’t mean Ian’s so fond of that all the time.

Apparently, the response Ian gave was the wrong one because Lips eye’s got freakishly wide and he yelled out, far too loudly for a public establishment, “you two are _fucking?!”_ which got quite a few people looking their way, causing Ian’s blush to darken more than he thought possible. His face was practically on fire.

“Keep your fuckin’ voice down, man. We’re not fucking. We just fuck sometimes. It’s not as if it’s that frequent of an occurrence. We’re mostly just friends.”

“Just friends who’ve had sex _how_ many times?”

“Maybe twenty? Thirty? Somewhere around that number.”

“Yeah that’s not technically a friendship, Ian.”

Ian brushed the comment aside, mumbling a ‘whatever’ under his breath before changing the subject to something that didn’t involve his love life.

Not that he had one because what he and Mickey shared wasn’t a “love life”. They were just two friends that accidentally had sex a few too many times but that doesn’t all of a sudden make them boyfriend and girlfriend.

Still, it doesn’t mean Ian doesn’t spend the rest of the day thinking about it, even when his lunch with Lip is over.

He spends the whole car ride back home analyzing all of his interactions with Mickey over the past few months. Yeah, they fuck, but that’s never not a moment of desperation or because they’re both just drunk and horny. Except for the past, maybe, five or so times where both of them were completely sober, and the sex just happened because, frankly, it’s _really good_ and they both quite like it.

That doesn’t mean they’re dating though. Plenty of people have friends with benefits relationships, why does Ian’s with Mickey have to be any different. Most friends with benefits probably wouldn’t have spend the night cuddling after fucking, sure, and most friends with benefits also probably wouldn’t have spent the next morning have soft, slow morning sex but that’s just the relationship Ian and Mickey _have_. It’s always been unconventional and Ian figures it always will be.

That _still_ doesn’t make what they have anything more than platonic. He’s pretty damn sure about that. Just because they kiss sometimes doesn’t automatically mean it’s romantic. Do they spend entire afternoons sometimes just laying on either one of their respective beds making out? Maybe, but only when they’re too tired to fuck but still want to do _something_ with their time.

Ian keeps thinking of all the things they do. The fact that when the Gallaghers all have movie nights, no one sits in the loveseat anymore because they already know Ian and Mickey are going to cuddle on it. The fact that Saturday mornings always find Ian in the kitchen cooking up eggs and bacon for Mickey because he knows he’s always grumpy in the morning and Ian just wants to cheer him up a bit. The fact that last time Ian and Mickey went to a club together, Ian turned down all the men trying to hit on him, for no real reason other than the fact that he was looking forward to going home with Mickey.

The fact that he has a boyfriend, and his name is Mickey Milkovich.

When he gets home, Ian heads straight for the room that used to be Lips but that now belongs to him and throws himself on to the bed. He can’t believe he was so _stupid_ as to think that him and Mickey were just friends, especially considering everyone knows the Milkovich’s reputation- Mickey doesn’t date, he doesn’t do romance, and he definitely doesn’t do boyfriends. \

Except that, unbeknownst to him (Ian assumes) he somehow went and ended up with a guy he’s been dating for what? Nearly seven months now?

Jesus _fucking_ Christ.

Ian knows Mickey will probably be coming over soon since he knew about the Gallagher’s plans with his brother and was probably just waiting until their lunch was over so he could come over to Ian’s house. The fact that they have such a domestic routine down should scare Ian, but compared to all of the other realizations he’s had today, this one is the most comforting. He figures if he’s gonna have a boyfriend he didn’t know about, he’s at least glad they’re so comfortable around each other. That they seem to pretty serious, at least Ian subconsciously has been. He hasn’t fooled around with any other guys since this whole thing with Mickey started, which is odd, because even with past relationships that he was _actually_ aware he had he wasn’t exclusive.

Him and Mickey are a solid, serious couple that have been together for over half a year and, somehow, it took having coffee with Lip for him to figure it all out.

He forces himself to get up and shower, change into something more comfortable for when what’s most probably his _boyfriend_ shows up.

Ian’s lips curl up involuntarily at the word.

So maybe it wouldn’t be that bad to be dating Mickey. Maybe, now that it’s been brought to his attention, he’s been harboring a bit of a crush on him for a while. He always gets giddy whenever Mickey stomps into his room unannounced and even Ian isn’t so dense that he doesn’t notice his stomach trying out for the national olympics team every time he sees Mickey being sweet with his younger siblings.

He wouldn’t go as far as to say he loves him (not yet, at least) but he figures it could get there someday.

And that’s not really a thought Ian Gallagher has ever had about anyone.

He gets out of the shower and walks back into his room, changing into sweats a t shirt before laying on his bed and pulling out his phone. He briefly debates whether or not he should tell Lip about his realization, but his plans are cut short as Mickey enters his room.

When he walks in he takes a second to unlace and toe off his combat boots before climbing into bed with Ian. Ian can tell the smile he sends Mickey’s way is soft- private. He realizes that his stomach is in knots and he knows it isn’t due to anything he ate. Just the blue eyed boy laying down beside him.

It’s Mickeys responding smile, a soft kiss pressed to Ian’s lips and a whispered “Hey, firecrotch” that makes Ian ask what’s been on his mind all day-

“Are we a couple? I-I know it’s kind of a weird thing to ask but Lip pointed it out today at lunch and I’ve been thinking about it pretty much all day but just… are we?” Ian blurts out. He originally planned on being considerably more suave than that but shit happens. It got the message across and that’s what matters.

Mickey looks taken aback and Ian prepares himself to start rambling out apologies to make sure the older man doesn’t leave but before he can say anything Mickey responds.

“Why the fuck would that be weird, of course we are. We’ve been together for seven fuckin’ months and you didn’t know we were a couple? Ian, I have shirts that I keep in _your fuckin’ dresser_ , man. Fiona sets an extra plate for me at dinner, of course we’re a couple.”

Ian’s smile nearly rips his face in half. He tangles his hand in the hairs on the nape of Mickey’s neck, slowly dragging his thumb over Mickey’s cheekbone, taking the time to simply take in the other man’s face. To put it in simple terms- he was beautiful.

“Don’t do that, man, just because we’re together doesn’t mean you have to go and get all gay on me all of a sudden.”

Ian’s only response to that was to pull Mickey down and kiss him till he forgot what they were even talking about.

Later that night, after they had ‘Ian finally figured out we’re an item’ sex, and Mickey’s snoring where he’s resting on Ian’s chest, Ian pulls out his phone and opens up his conversation with Lip.

_‘turns out it rly wasnt a friendship. maybe next time ur in town my boyfriend can join us for lunch ;)’_


End file.
